Members of the East Tennessee State University Public Health Student Association celebrated the 24th annual Well-A-Palooza festival.
Since 2000, the festival has promoted health and wellness with both enjoyable activities and educational booths. In addition to a number of games, participants were able to learn about a number of important programs at ETSU, and receive training in the use of Narcan.
Dr. Mike Stoots, Professor of Community Health and Undergraduate Coordinator in the College of Public Health said “I am really proud of the fact that this year’s festival was largely organized and carried out by student leaders. I especially want to thank Callie Akers, Madison Cox, Sofi Olivares-Oyaraz and Arianna Pond for their leadership and dedication.”
Callie Akers, one of the student leaders and Public Relations Co-Chair of PSHA, said “Planning Well-A-Palooza was exciting because providing health education and resources to the general ETSU community is really important to me. We have all these great resources and connections in our public health community, so they need to be shared.”
Arianna Pond, another student leader said, “I am grateful for the experience and recognition for my hand in planning Well-A-Palooza. We were able to extend our passion for public health to rest of the ETSU campus through community vendors, informative materials, and fun! Each attendee walked away from the event with preventative resources and a newfound understanding of what it means to live a healthy and safe life.”
“The ETSU College of Public Health has given the Public Health Student Association an amazing opportunity to provide students access to local health organizations in an engaging and entertaining way, said Madison Cox, COPH student and Well-A-Palooza coordinator. “We look forward to this event every year and we are extremely thankful for all that the college has provided us.”
Dr. Stoots added, “Well-A-Palooza showcases our students’ ability to organize and bring health to the campus community.”
Callie Akers concluded, “I am so excited to combine our public health community and the university community to create a really fun event for everyone involved.“
